


Concrete in Your Stocking

by romanitas



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas Fluff, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-21
Updated: 2015-12-21
Packaged: 2018-05-08 03:02:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5480867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/romanitas/pseuds/romanitas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The problem isn’t that Clarke gets Bellamy for Secret Santa. The problem is she might be a little bit in love with him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Concrete in Your Stocking

**Author's Note:**

> original prompt on tumblr: and/or “i got you for secret santa so i got you this really expensive but sentimental gift that you’ve always wanted, hoping you’ll never find out it’s from me - and that i’ve been in love with you 1234567 years” for bellarke

Clarke loves Secret Santa. She and her friends have been doing it for years, even if it started off small and ineffective with just her, Octavia, Monty, and Jasper back when they were all freshman in college. Four people make the odds of figuring out who got what a lot easier. But their numbers are up. Dating Finn was a disaster, but she got Raven out of it. Octavia’s brother started off as a thorn in everyone’s side, but now they basically all just crash at his apartment on any given night – and he’s got two roommates, Miller and Monroe. Wells moved nearby once he finished up his own undergrad experience, and Octavia’s got a boyfriend named Lincoln, so, the list goes on. It’s a big circle, and Clarke loves them all. Her high school life was limited to mostly just her and Wells, and even now she’s just so overwhelmed by how great her friends are.

So, yeah. Secret Santa is the best. Last year she got Monty, and he still has no idea who got him his gift. Clarke has had nothing but time to perfect the secret present.

But this year she gets Bellamy. It’s not inherently a problem: Bellamy is a giant nerd who pretends to be cool, but he’s got a poster of the Coliseum on his wall as well as the communist party pun of Marxists partying. He’s basically gotten nerdy presents ever since he joined in on the exchange.

The problem is she’s more or less been in love with Bellamy for a few years. Honestly, she can’t even pinpoint when it started. She just woke up one day like  _Oh_ , mostly because he’d tucked her into his bed and taken the couch when she couldn’t get herself home, and it wasn’t even the first time that happened. Clarke might have befriended Octavia first, but it’s Bellamy she’s grown in sync with.  She can gesture vaguely at him, and he’ll pass along whatever it is she’s asking for in total silence. She can give him a look, and he’ll order Thai food for dinner.

Literally everyone suspects them of telepathy, but Clarke can’t explain it. Wells thinks it was born out of their combined need to play Responsible for everyone around them, which is a fair point. She’s sure at least one of them is listed as an emergency contact for all their friends.  It just – happened.  Just like being in love with him was suddenly standard. And now she needs a present for him. Her feelings don’t change how badly she never wants him to know who it’s from, but they do kind of make her determined to get him the best gift she possibly can. Blow all the previous years’ gifts out of the water.

But googling “sentimental nerd gifts” is not nearly as effective as she hoped.

Eventually, she settles on a literal piece of the Berlin Wall. There are a lot of little chunks going for chump change lately, but Clarke wants something big. She literally finds some German website selling a two foot long piece with excellent graffiti and selects the fastest shipping possible to make sure it arrives in time for Christmas. Bellamy has a lot of feelings about the Iron Curtain and spent the 25th anniversary of the Berlin Wall collapse getting drunk and emotional.  Everyone knows Bellamy is a nerd, so she figures it’s a decent option for secrecy.

She’s not counting on so few people picking up on what it is as soon as he opens it.

“Who the fuck got you a chunk of rock?” Miller asks, not bothering to hide his bemusement.

“Maybe it’s a comment on his stubbornness,” Octavia preens.

“Then maybe you got a rock too,” Lincoln smiles. Octavia elbows him, affectionately.

Bellamy’s gone very quiet though. The wall piece is a lot bigger than Clarke realized it would be, and a lot heavier. It was only out of her own sheer stubbornness that she managed to wrap it up and transport it to Bellamy’s apartment and location of the annual Christmas party all on her own. It’s the best house for it, since they basically run on an open door policy, allowing people to drop off the presents without anyone else around to see.

Clarke desperately avoids his eyes, even though he’s too busy running his hands over it like it’s something precious. Wells. Wells has to know what it is. She spares him a glance, but his expression is impressed. Impressed means surprise, so if Bellamy tries to figure it out, Wells would get crossed off the list. Raven’s squinting, like she knows what it is but can’t really believe there’s a piece of the Berlin Wall in the living room.

Bellamy looks up, immediately catching Clarke’s gaze, and she can feel her ears going red. He looks back down at the wall though, and she’s pretty sure no one else noticed. But that’s it. Her record is broken. Bellamy figured out she got it for him in like, two seconds, which is impressive from an objective point of view, but she lost the competition against herself. On the other hand, it shouldn’t really surprise her, should it? She and Bellamy understand each other on another plane. He can read her like a book, and vice versa.

“You’re a nerd,” Raven says, breaking the weird growing silence, and Clarke would spare her a grateful glance if she wasn’t trying to stay on the downest low.

“Shut up, Raven.”

“It’s a piece of the Berlin Wall! I’m not in the wrong.”

Octavia hones in on Wells. “He’s a nerd too. I bet it was him.”

Wells holds up his hands, an unreadable smile on his face. “I plead the fifth.”

Clarke desperately hopes they give up. She really should have thought about this part, because honestly, it’s literally a piece of concrete, who gets a piece of concrete for Christmas? It’s like an even harsher version of coal. But she was so excited to find it. She knew, as soon as she saw the piece online that it was perfect. She hadn’t been thinking about the Secret Santa, or the other gift givers: just that Bellamy was going to love it.

And he does. He’s uncharacteristically quiet about the whole thing, but there’s clear appreciation in his gaze, and for a moment, Clarke’s pretty glad he already figured out she’s the one who did it. She just doesn’t want anyone else to know now.

“This is stupid,” Octavia announces, interrupting the quest to figure out the wall’s origin. “I seriously better not have gotten a rock too, or my Secret Santa’s getting an ass kicking.”

It’s enough for most of the conversation to shift as Octavia gets started on her present, but Wells catches Clarke’s eyes and gives her a knowing smile; it takes all she has in her not to huff at him and cross her arms in motherly disapproval. She pointedly continues to ignore looking at Bellamy, which he apparently doesn’t take kindly to, because once Monroe starts on her present, Bellamy’s up and moving, sitting next to Clarke on the floor.

She stiffens, trying not to be obvious about it. He elbows her, and she finally turns to look at him, fully expecting him to be a smug jerk about figuring her whole plan out. Instead: “Who do you think got Monroe’s?”

On the upfront, to the eavesdroppers, it’s exactly as it seems. To Clarke, he’s asking if it was really her with the wall, like he needs that extra confirmation.

“The wrapping paper looks like Jasper’s,” she replies, not answering his other question.

“I take offense to that!” Jasper says loudly, even though it’s totally the same paper from last year.

“Clarke,” Bellamy says, looking and sounding far more urgent than she feels is necessary.

“Can’t this wait?” she hisses under her breath. He grunts an agreement, but he doesn’t move away from her, and she spends the rest of the gift unwrapping completely and totally aware of how close he is to her. He smells like peppermint, but he always does around Christmas, because Bellamy devours candy canes like nobody’s business.

Clarke scrambles to her feet too fast for Bellamy to not be suspicious, but she rushes for the kitchen with a war cry of hot chocolate, to which both Monty and Octavia cheer. She knows it’s mostly futile, because she knows Bellamy is going to follow her after whatever amount of time he deems appropriate to avoid drawing attention.

Turns out it’s about five minutes, not long enough for the kettle to boil. She has nothing to do with her hands, nothing to keep her busy, so when Bellamy comes into the kitchen, he just finds her standing like a deer caught in the headlights.

“You know, if you were gonna be so awkward about it, you probably should have just gotten me a book.”

She deflates. “I guess I didn’t realize you’d figure it out.” A beat. “Or figure it out that quickly, at least.”

“C’mon, Clarke, really? I figure out who you get every year. Good job with Monty’s.”

Her mouth drops. “I thought nobody knew! You never said anything!”

“You’re so adamant about the secret part, it never felt necessary to bring it up,” he shrugs, like he doesn’t want to make it a big deal. “I don’t really care about spoiling it.”

She frowns at him, but when she stops to think about it, it doesn’t surprise her that he always knew. Especially because, well, the reverse is just as true. “As long as we’re being honest,” she starts, “I’ve always figured out yours too.” He looks offended, and it puts a smile back on her face. “What? You always pinpoint the perfect present someone needs without making it obvious that it’s a need. Like, you’re always so practical without giving someone socks because all theirs have holes in them. They’re excited without realizing how much you’re looking out for them.”

It’s Bellamy’s turn to huff, and she laughs, elbowing him in the side. “Maybe that just means we’re masters at the whole Secret Santa thing,” she adds on. They always do have some of the best gifts.

Then he surprises her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. She expects one of his awkward side-arm hugs, but he tugs her in fully after a moment. It’s such an all encompassing hug, the kind Bellamy doesn’t give out freely or often. Smiling softly, Clarke wraps her arms around him, returning the hug and resting her chin on his shoulder.

“You’re welcome,” she says quietly, recognizing the thank you in the gesture.

“I know you’re basically calling me a nerd with it,” he starts, still holding her as the kettle whistles more loudly, “But – but you know it’s really fucking awesome, right? It’s a piece of the  _Berlin Wall_.”

“I know. I bought it. It’s forever etched in my credit card history’s memory.”

“I can’t believe Miller didn’t recognize it,” he mumbles, and Clarke laughs. He pulls away and meets her eyes earnestly, so much so that it makes her stomach flop over. His eyes dart down to her mouth, and her stomach flips over again because – what?  _What_?

She’s expecting him to say thank you out loud, it feels like the next good logical step, but instead her breath catches in her throat as Bellamy leans in and down, very much on his way to kissing her. His lips brush against hers gently, and she doesn’t react, too stunned. He takes it as a bad sign, because he pulls back quickly, looking awkward and embarrassed, which is a new expression for him.

“Sorry –” he starts, but Clarke is having none of it. She grabs his face and kisses him again, not nearly as tentative, but he reacts appropriately, sweeping into her space and smiling against her mouth.

She winds her hands through his hair just as the kettle starts to whistle obnoxiously, demanding that the entire room know the water is finished. Clarke pulls away, but Bellamy keeps his forehead against hers, looking pleased.

“I can’t believe a piece of  _concrete_  is all it took,” she grumbles to herself. She knew Bellamy loved her, like he loves everyone in this house, but it isn’t like either of them have ever had much luck in the dating or romance department. Her exes of all sexes crashed and burned; Bellamy’s never even  _had_  a real ex. She never expected reciprocation, but he looks like he’s been waiting ages to kiss her.

“It’s a very important piece of concrete,” he says defensively, like he’s protecting the honor of the Berlin Wall. The best part is that’s probably exactly what he’s doing.

Clarke kisses him again, once and briefly, because the kettle is still insistent, and she has no desire for anyone to walk in on them like this, so she breaks away from him. He looks confused for a second, but she smiles, raising an eyebrow and silently asking him to help with the hot chocolate.

Bellamy sighs, but he’s smiling too, and if they stand much closer than they would have before as they make several mugs of cocoa for their friends, Clarke can’t say she minds. It feels as natural as everything else does, as long as he’s at her side.


End file.
